NOW emergency support open for application as of 6 April

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Earlier we informed you through this website about the emergency measures being taken by the Dutch government to provide aid to employers during the corona crisis. This has lead to the NOW-scheme, among other measures, which provides for a compensation of the total wage bill of an employer that expects to suffer a loss of turnover of at least 20% during a period of three consecutive months. The compensation of the total wage bill of the employer sees to the months of March, April and May 2020.

The request for NOW compensation is to be filed with the Employee Insurance Agency (“UWV”). The UWV has made an online request form available on 6 April 2020. The online form is only available in Dutch and can be found here. The digital form is relatively easy to fill out. The required information for the form is:

The payroll tax number (“loonheffinggennummer”) of the employer filing the request;

If the employer has previously applied for short-time working: the case number for that request, which can be found in the confirmation of receipt of the short-time working application;

The three month period in which the employer expects to suffer at least 20% loss of turnover. For that, the employer has the choice to have this three month period start on 1 March, 1 April or 1 May;

The expected percentage of loss of turnover during that three month consecutive period;

The bank account number that the Tax and Customs Administration (“Belastingdienst”) uses to refund any excess salary taxes to the employer.

After filling out the digital form, it must be saved as a PDF and printed. The printed version of the file must then be signed and dated, following which the form must be scanned and uploaded in the online UWV environment.

Aside from the actual form, the employer must also scan a bank account statement of the abovementioned bank account. The name and bank account number must be clearly visible on this statement. All other information may be concealed. The scan of the bank account statement is to be uploaded along with the form in the online UWV environment.

Employers are advised to have all required information ready and available before logging on to the UWV website.

After uploading both files, the employer can finalise and file the request for NOW assistance. Following the NOW-regulation, the employer will receive an advance of 80% of the total compensation it is entitled to under the NOW-scheme within two to four weeks. The remaining 20% will be paid out after the three month period, under the condition of recalculation.

Please feel free to call or e-mail us in case of any questions regarding the request.